Fire-escape.



E. MILLER.

FIRE ESCAPE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25, 1908.

Patented June 1, 1909.

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EDSEL MILLER, OF MOUNT STERLING, ILLINOIS.

FIRE-ESCAPE T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ensnn lillLLER, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Mount Sterling, in the county of Brown and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and Improved Fire-Escape, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to fire escapes, and in substance it consists of aframe in which a drum is mounted to rotate, there being a gear wheelsecured to the drum, which meshes with a gear wheel secured to a shaftjournaled in the frame, there being governor members secured to the saidshaft, the governor members having inner undulating parallel surfaces,the inner undulating parallel surfaces engaging a shank having an eyewhich is freely mounted on the shaft between the governor members, thediameter of the shank being nearly as great as the space between theundulating surfaces of the governor members. A cable is wound on thedrum, and a spring is secured to the drum to press the cable into placewhen being wound on the drum. A crank is also provided to rotate thedrum to wind the cable.

Still other objects of the invention will appear in the followingcomplete description.

In this specification I will describe the preferred form of myinvention, but it will be understood that I do not limit myself theretoas I consider myself entitled to all forms and embodiments of theinvention which may be held to fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of refer ence indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures, in which- Figure 1 is a frontelevation of the invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2of Fig. 1; and Fig. 8 is a sectional View showing a portion of the shafton which the governor members are mounted and the shank disposed betweenthe governor members.

By referring to the drawings, it will be seen that side frame members 1are provided, and that these frame members are united at the top andbottom by frame members 2, the upper frame member 2 being disposed atthe rear of the side members 1, so that it will not interfere with ashank 3. In the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 25, '908.

Patented June 1, 1909.

Serial No. 450,133.

side frame members 1 is journaled a shaft 1 to which is secured a drum 5and a gear wheel 0. The shaft 4: extends some distance through one ofthe side frame members 1, so that a crank 7 may be applied to rotate thedrum. A cable 8 is wound on the drum 5 and a spring 9 is secured to theframe, the spring pressing on the cable 8 wound on the drum to hold itin place when being wound.

Above the shaft 1 a second shaft 10 is ournaled in the side framemembers 1, and a gear wheel 11 is mounted on this shaft 10, the gearwheel 11 being adapted to slide laterally, but when the gear wheel 11 isdisposed over the gear wheel 6 the two gear wheels mesh, and when thegear wheel 11 is in this position a screw 12, which passes through anoffset 13, secured to the gear wheel, is adapted to be screwed into theshaft 10 to hold the gear wheel 11 in posi tion. Secured to the shaft 10are governor members 14, the governor members 141 having inwardlydisposed annular flanges 15, the extremities of the said flanges 15having undulating surfaces which are parallel with each other. The shank8 has a ring 16 which is freely mounted on the shaft 10 between thegovernor members 1 1, but inasmuch as the diameter of the said shank 3is only slightly less than the distance between the undulating surfacesof the flanges 15, it will be seen that when the shank 3 is heldextended relatively to the frame and the shaft 10 is rotated, that theundulating surfaces of the flanges 15 will cause the shank to move toand fro laterally, and there is considerable friction between the saidshank 3 and the undulating surfaces of the flanges 15, the rotation ofthe shaft 10 will be considerably limited,

In using my invention, the shank 3 may be supported by means of links17, or otherwise, to a fixture 18, and when the cable 8 is wound on thedrum 5, by means of the crank 7, the fire escape is in position to beoperated. The cable 8 may be fastened directly to the body of a personor it may be fastened to abelt which is fastened around the body of theperson who is to be rescued. The crank T is of course, removed from theshank and the body w iich is being rescued is then disposed so that theweight will bear on the cable and will rotate the drum 5, and by neansof the gear wheels 6 and 11 will rotate the shaft 10, but inasmuch asthe-rotation of the shaft 10 will be retarded by means of the frictionof the shank 3, on the undulatin surfaces of the flanges 15, therotation or the drum 5 will also be retarded and it will be possible forthe body to reach the ground, moving at a safe speed. It will, ofcourse, be understood that if desired, a cage may be secured to thecable 8 to permit the lowering of a number of persons at one time.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. In a fire escape, a frame, a shaft journaled therein, two governormembers spaced apart and secured to the shaft, the governor membershaving inner undulating surfaces disposed parallel with each other, anda' shank mounted freely on the shaft between the governor members.

2. In a fire escape which is adapted to afford communication with theground from a distance thereabove, a frame, a shaft journaled therein,means for rotating the shaft, a shank freely mounted on the shaft, theshank forming a unit in the said communication with the ground, andmeans adapted to move the shank to and fro longitudinally of the shaftas the shaft rotates.

3. In a fire escape, a frame, a shaft journaled therein, two governormembers spaced apart and secured to the shaft, each of the governormembers having an annular inwardly disposed flange, the extremities ofthe flanges having undulating surfaces which are parallel with eachother, and a shank mounted freely on the shaft between the governormembers.

4. In a fire escape, a frame, a drum mount ed to rotate therein, a gearwheel secured to the drum, a shaft journaled in the frame, a gear wheelsecured thereto, the last named gear wheel meshing with the gear wheelon the drum, two governor members spaced apart and secured to the shaft,the governor members having inner undulating faces disposed parallelwith each other, and a shank mounted freely on the shaft between thegovernor members.

5. In a fire escape, a frame, a drum mounted to rotate therein, a cablewound on the drum, a shaft ournaled in the frame, means by which thedrum is adapted to drive the shaft, a shank freely mounted on the shaft,and means in connection with the shank to retard the rotation of theshaft.

6. In a fire escape, a frame, a drum mounted to rotate therein, a cablewound on the drum, a shaft journaled in the frame, means by which thedrum is adapted to drive the shaft, means to press the cable in place onthe drum, a shank mounted freely on the shaft, and means to more theshank to and fro laterally as the shaft rotates.

7. In a fire escape which is adapted to afford communication with theground from a distance there-above, a frame, a shank freely mounted inthe frame which forms a unit in the said communication with the ground,a shaft, and means in connection with the shank which are adapted forretarding the rotation of the s iaft.

S. In a fire escape which is adapted to afford communication with theground from a distance thereabove, a irame, a shank freely mountedtherein which forms a unit in the communication to the ground, a shaft,and means for moving the shank to and fro as the shaft rotates.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDSEL MILLER.

Witnesses LEON ORR, F. C. News.

